Pope Francis’ wrote his letter Christus Vivit – meaning ‘Christ is Alive’ – after the bishops of the Church spent two years listening to young people from all across the globe. It is a document for young and old alike. Pope Francis proclaims his vision to make the Church a place for all young people and calls the Church to do more to accompany young people as they journey to discover and fulfil their mission in the world. 

Million Minutes shares in this vision. We are committed to helping parishes and communities across England and Wales to nurture a Church that is welcoming to all young people and reaches out to encounter them in the midst of their lives. For this we need a youth ministry that responds to the needs of young people, that isn’t afraid to break away from conventional rigid methods that can sometimes exclude them or seem distant and irrelevant. We need what the Pope calls a ‘broad and flexible’ ministry with young people. Check out some examples of this vision in practice.

We want to help parishes to fulfil Pope Francis’ vision:  

To recognise our call to offer genuine time to accompany young people, journeying alongside them. We strive for real proximity with them and, with a heart of mercy, to accept and love them with no expectation in return. Through this we seek to incarnate the kerygma, echoing the proclamation of the Gospel to our young people, ‘Christus vivit!’, Christ is alive and loves you. Through this we show young people that the Church is for them and with them offering them community. This type of accompaniment leads to discernment – with a listening heart we help young people discern their place in the world - their mission in life. 

TIME TO ACCOMPANY

Pope Francis reminds us of the importance to take real time to accompany young people. He says that all young people are in God’s heart, and that therefore they must be in the heart of the Church. Taking time to accompany means doing these five things, explore each theme in more detail by clicking below.